This invention relates generally to devices used in the human healthcare service intended to eliminate cross contamination of patient to patient, and cross contamination of healthcare workers to patient. This devise provides a protective cover of the tightly gloved hand when the worker needs to handle non-sterile items before terminating sterile procedures on the patient, such as opening drawers, writing prescriptions, making notes on charts, answering telephones, and many other office or operatory expected or unexpected motions.
A common problem with preventing contamination of patients, operators, and equipment, is that the healthcare worker is using tight-fitting latex type gloves. When the healthcare worker must touch equipment of any sort, the gloves must be removed so the microbes of the patient are not placed upon said equipment. Likewise, the microbes on the equipment from others handling it, are not to be transferred to the patient. The healthcare worker could remove the tight-fitting gloves with each non-patient movement, then reverse them, as they are pulled off inside out, but that is very time consuming and frustrating. Unfortunately, and in spite of OSHA regulations, cross contamination occurs regularly because it is too difficult to be removing and replacing gloves and many workers are not schooled enough to be aware that they are spreading disease by merely picking up a telephone or a pencil or opening a drawer with their gloved hand, then returning to the patient. Non-gloved workers are then contaminated when they pick up the pen or telephone or open a drawer.
The need for this type of protection is most notable in the dental office where the healthcare worker is in and out of the patient's mouth throughout the entire procedure, whatever the procedure may be. Drawers are opened, jars and tubes are opened, notes are written on charts, x-rays are put in the mouth then machines are moved into place and buttons are touched, and all the while, gloved hands return to the mouth. Microbes from each and every patient are left on pencils and pens, charts, jars, tubes, drawers, cabinets, x-ray machines and very seldom if ever, are these items and areas disinfected.